Well, today when I woke up, my bro told me he didn't like his ION trigger, I love it and think it is great, so does everyone else but he wanted to see what else he can get, he will still keep what he has but wanted to see his options for the future. So, I found 2 stock ION triggers laying around, found my cutting board, found a box of exacto knives and went to work.

I started with a stock ION trigger, started taking small snips out of it. I got a body for what I was going to make, still wasn't 100% sure though. I made the point at the end of the trigger sharp; it still didn't look like a nice trigger.

They I went midway where the first finger goes on a stock ION trigger. I started to whittle away. I found I liked the shape so I started to sand. It had the shape but still needed more.

I started to use finer sand paper. It was getting a coarse look to it. I stated to uses even finer sand paper, now it was looking like it could be a trigger for a pro . I was starting to really take a liking to it so I found the finest sand paper I had. I made it VERY smooth, I mean smoother than anything, doesn't feel coarse at all, I fell in love with it. It was smooth, perfect.

Now, after some of you have read this, I am positive you want to see what I have created. I now warn you that pictures do it nothing near justice. It is much finer than the picture can capture.
AFTER I CUT, now I am sanding and doing VERY little snips

This stage, I was using coarse sand paper, felt nicely in hands, but still had a texture to it that I didn't like.
(at stage 1, compared to stock)
At this stage, it was getting smoother, I started to take a likeing to it
You may not have noticed a change in look, but a major change in feel occured
Now, I started my first achievment to my final look, the gloss effect (I cheated, just dipped it in water, made it look really cool though)
Pic of crack
To fix the crack, I just sanded it away. I will upload pics in a day or two of it. It was not major, and not deep.
(sorry, I will upload more pictures tomorrow)

THEN!! The last step, polishing.
Tomorrow, as it is too late to do now, I am going to polish the trigger with a polish bufferer. Hopefully this will turn out marvelously!

All in all, I have put about 4+ hours into this, and I have to say, I am pleased, the most fun doing this kind of stuff I have had in years. So overall, I have been very pleased. I hope you people also like what I have done.

The crack is already fixed, it was VERY minor, just sanded it down a little. But yes, at first, melting was very nice. I already have a good ION trigger (or should I say my brother, I no longer have an ION). I didn't do this to use, I did this for fun, planning on selling it. If I were to paint it, what would I use?

I just used a lighter to melt mine back to shine. It works if you take your time runing back and forth. And no paint job will last unless you duracoat it. But I couldnt fathem going this far with a cheap trigger, like the stock version. Whats funny about SP's stock ion triggers, is the fact that the strait SP8 trigger is allot easier to walk that the standard ion's old school double hook design that dictates finger placement.

That is the part I used on my lighter. The part closest, it kinda melted it, lol. I don't want to try something that I am not 100% sure will work, I spent too much time on it to have it go down the tubes by looking like crap I hope my buffering job on it works, I will see if I can get more pics up tomorrow.

He didn't ask a stupid question. He asked how he should go about painting the plastic. You can't just say "uhh use paint *******" That, is a stupid thing to say. It's not like all paint is the same. There's acrylic base, latex base, oil based, should he use one brand or another, should he primer it, what kind of primer, etc etc.

Anyways, I'd say try using Krylon Fusion for plastics, you don't need to primer it, but make sure you do a good job of buffing out the scratches. Even the smallest scratch will show up. I painted a friends cellphone with Krylon fusion and it turned out great looking. It also helps if you bake it between coats with a low temperature in the oven. Not too long and not to high or else the plastic will get soft and deform.

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"Originally posted by texastornado: ...i was playin with my buddy once and he told me he couldn't cock his acs which had come uncocked. It turns out his arm had fallen off..."

wow, well we've all probably assembled model cars before, that would be acrylic based and whattayaknow! it stuck to plastic.
latex paint sticks to just about everything and your krylon fusion is no different. a $.97 can of paint from wal-mart will do the job if you have enough skill to paint right.
paint is paint is paint is paint